WINTER SALES TRADE UP BY 30 PERCENT

12/01/2005 00:00

THE winter sales only started in Palma last Friday but already, the retail sector is reporting a 30 percent increase in trade compared to last year.
Both the Afedeco and Pimeco retail associations said yesterday that there has been a real sales frenzy this year, partly because of the huge discounts being offered right from the start and the late arrival of the cold weather which sparked a mad rush for warm winter clothes.

Afedeco boss Bartomeu Servera said yesterday that no one expected the first two days of the sales to be so busy, adding that demand has been biggest for clothes. The small to medium shopkeepers are also enjoying brisk trade, although Pimeco president Àngel Pujol said yesterday that the situation will start to calm down over the next few days.

He said that the Christmas and New Year sales period has been one of the worst in recent years but the mad rush to sales suggest that many consumers decided to wait for the bargains.

Àngel Pujol said that some shops in Palma are bare having sold all the stock they needed to clear before bringing out the new Spring/Summer collections.